Michael Hollis Announces OTOACOUSTIC EMISSIONS Performance At Forest Park Bandshell

On Saturday, September 28, Glendale, Queens based artist Michael Hollis will present Otoacoustic Emissions, a four-movement live event at the Forest Park George Seuffert, Sr. Bandshell (Forest Park Dr, Woodhaven, NY 11421), at 3pm. The event is free and open to the public.

Otoacoustic Emissions, sponsored by the Queens Arts Fund, and administered by the New York Foundation of the Arts, will feature Hollis with conductor Marie Incontrera, leading The Kompass Quartet, and electronic music experimenter ridgewoodsoundlab, through a unique sonic experience, meant to inspire connection with the nature around them. The performance’s moments of Deep Listening improvisation will help to create a concert that will never happen the same way twice.

Discussing the event, Hollis offers, “‘Otoacoustic Emissions’ is the name for the sound that your eardrum makes when receiving sound. To me, it is the music within music that we are not even aware is happening. In a desire to pay homage to tradition and the local Queens, NY musicians that have come before me, while also highlighting some of the personally-impactful Deep Listening Techniques of Pauline Oliveros I decided to write this music for this performance.”

Otoacoustic Emissions seeks to draw on the history of music in Queens, while also forging its own path forward. Jazz and Hip Hop are inextricable from the musical history of Queens and Hollis drew on their influences in creating this composition. The unique approach to sound and sampling in Hip Hop will be realized through the contributions of ridgewoodsoundlab, while the harmonic content of jazz will flow through the piece’s improvised sections. Hollis is often inspired by nature, and the setting of the Forest Park Bandshell will be used to help elevate the performance with the natural sounds of the park.

Otoacoustic Emissions will be performed by:

Michael Hollis - Guitar

Marie Incontrera - Conductor

The Kompass Quartet:

Jessica Gehring - Violin 1

Jade Schoolcraft - Violin 2

Matthew Ryan - Viola

Victoria Lin - Cello

About Michael Hollis:

Michael Hollis made his debut as an original composer in 2018 after receiving funding for his symphonic/electronic work, The Edge of the Hill, from Arts Mid Hudson's Individual Artist Commission grant. Hollis created the piece inspired by the environment of Ulster County and what its community members do to preserve and protect it, using affected clips from interviews combined with music written for a 10-piece chamber orchestra.

Aside from the world of New Music, Hollis has been performing for years with a variety of different groups, from psych/dream-pop quintet Breakfast in Fur (Bar/None Records), recording Room to Breathe with Blue Museum, produced by award winning producer/engineer Scott Petito, to performing with Jazz Trio Mortet. The many different experiences of a performing musician help Michael bend whatever genre he finds himself in!